UK's Journey to Net Zero

Can we balance supply and demand with increasing wind power without relying on gas? Dr Alan Jones, PhD, C.Eng, FIET.   The Role of Wind Generation: the downside of intermittency  1 Introduction There is now universal agreement that renewable generation, as a sustainable energy source, is an important part of the energy mix in so far as it helps reduce dependence on fossil-fuels, minimises anthropogenic carbon emissions and thereby assists in mitigating climate change – in a similar way to the use of nuclear energy, but without the concerns for safety and the need for long-term storage of radioactive waste.      The rapid growth of renewable generation over the last decade, in the form of wind and solar, and especially on-shore wind, has led to the realisation that the UK’s existing high voltage electricity transmission infrastructure, which was designed around conventional power stations located in accessible, built up areas is no longer compatible with distributed renewable generation